The Maid With a Child - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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33. One Against Many
This was not merely Adlen’s burden alone.
Everyone present found themselves asking the same question: what if this became their responsibility too?
The Crown Prince was certainly no ordinary child. Could one person, single-handedly, attend to his every need and play with him to boot?
It was nearly impossible.
And yet Adlen had to manage it all on his own.
It was a grave problem.
If there were multiple caretakers, the physical burden would distribute naturally—but the real difficulty was that the Crown Prince had become Adlen’s shadow.
“Surely it’s supposed to be the strong father who handles playtime!”
One of the knights stepped forward then.
His name was Dowen, and his special qualification was fatherhood; he’d cared for the Crown Prince during the journey from Moren.
The confidence of both experience and credentials overflowed from him.
“I haven’t played with mine so roughly—well, I’d play like that and get my back slapped by my wife, so I never tried it that way! But surely a knight of Sigelion, the strongest in Teplan, can handle what requires only physical effort? I’ll give it a try! Let me entertain him!”
At that, the other knights rushed forward as one.
“Then I shall help as well!”
“And I!”
They’d been little more than passing faces, exchanged perhaps a word or two in greeting before this.
Watching the knights volunteer so eagerly for work beyond their duty hours, Adlen’s eyes welled with tears of gratitude.
He was thankful for their kindness, but more than anything, he was overjoyed at the prospect of finally being able to rest.
“Thank you all, truly….”
Seeing the tearful Adlen, the knights nodded firmly once more with renewed resolve.
Now they needed only Ricalt’s approval.
Ricalt surveyed Adlen’s face—which was practically crumbling from exhaustion—and gave a short sigh before nodding.
“Th-thank you!”
Adlen was grateful to the knights for their offer, but their master’s permission meant everything.
No matter how much love and care he poured into attending to the Crown Prince, he could never muster the strength to drag him down from a wall where he clung to a chandelier. The helping hand that appeared at this moment of desperate need was nothing short of a miracle.
“What should we start with? Anything rough, strenuous, chaotic—that’ll do?”
With boundless energy came boundless enthusiasm.
* * *
It was a mercy that the Sigelion Estate was so vast.
To guard against attacks, the Crown Prince was kept entirely indoors. Living only within four walls would be confining, but the estate’s size made it bearable for now.
The Crown Prince was fine, and the house was fine. It was holding up well.
Had this been an ordinary home, it wouldn’t have been toys breaking apart—it would have been the house itself—but the Sigelion Estate was built strong.
“Kyaaaa! Ughhhh!”
The Crown Prince was absolutely thrilled. His face had flushed crimson with excitement.
He crawled about in all directions, emitting high-pitched squeals like a dolphin.
“Haha! Not finished yet, you little devil! Keep going—no, keep crawling!”
“How’s that for a challenge?! We’ve got a hundred more rounds in us! Hahaha!”
And the grown men—the knights—were just as delighted as the Crown Prince.
Playing at the child’s own level was truly something to be grateful for.
Adlen smiled, tears streaming down his face, marveling at the knights’ noble sacrifice.
He couldn’t even count how many games they’d already played.
Starting with Ball Play, then the Crawling Race, the Rolling Race—endless rounds of physical games. These were rough pastimes that would have reduced Adlen to powder long ago.
Some of them hovered somewhere between play and training.
“Huff, huff…! You getting tired now?”
“Uhhh….”
“Ha! This is what a Sigelion knight is made of! Come on!”
“Nngh…! Nngh…!”
The Crown Prince’s eyes drooped heavily with frustration.
But he truly was exhausted; he lay flat on the floor, unable to move. Then, at some point, he closed his eyes while clutching the ball.
“Uhhh…. S-snooore….”
He’d fallen into deep sleep quite suddenly, even producing a soft snore.
Everyone watched tensely, half-expecting him to suddenly spring back up and start crawling again. But as considerable time passed, the Crown Prince did not wake.
“Looks like we succeeded?”
“We did it. We won!”
“Adlen, he should sleep soundly through the night now.”
The knights broke into satisfied smiles and fanned themselves with their damp clothing.
For security reasons and because the outside air had grown quite cold, they couldn’t open the windows, so even though the fireplace had been extinguished long ago, the air hung thick and warm with their mingled breath.
Watching the sweat-drenched knights with their flushed faces, Adlen was deeply moved by their passionate efforts.
“We shall take our leave now, then.”
“Yes. You’ve done well.”
The knights who had emerged victorious from a One Against Many battle against an infant barely past his first year left in high spirits.
“You’ve worked hard. Please visit again!”
But to Adlen, they were nothing short of heroes.
From an earnest desire that they would return, he found himself offering a bow as warm and eager as that of a restaurant attendant.
“They’re truly wonderful people…….”
After the knights vanished, Adlen gazed at the infant who still slept on, a warm smile spreading across his face.
“Tonight should be peaceful, at least.”
Ricalt closed his papers and drew near.
Watching Adlen’s nightly trials unfold night after night, Ricalt found no peace in his own heart either.
So he had tried to hold and soothe the child several times. Yet, as if the Crown Prince could recognize an enemy, he reacted with violent rejection toward Ricalt.
Though Ricalt had not directly slain the boy’s parents, calling him an enemy felt imprecise—but he remained an enemy to the nation itself.
“Forgive me, my lord.”
Before Adlen could approach him fully, a whisper drifted from beyond the door.
It was a desperate effort not to wake the sleeping Crown Prince.
Ricalt sighed and moved toward the door. He wondered if this was right. No matter how young the child, all of Sigelion Estate had begun to revolve around him.
Yet there was no avoiding it—if the Crown Prince wept, in the end it was Adlen who suffered.
Adlen was his man, so protecting him to the fullest extent was only proper. But doing so meant indulging the whims of an enemy nation’s Crown Prince.
Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.
“What is it?”
It was the night watch commander.
Ricalt quietly closed the door behind him and stepped into the corridor.
“There was an attack just now.”
“Where?”
“Moren, we believe. It doesn’t appear to have been from General Kias’s faction.”
“Then the Crown Prince was the target.”
Ricalt’s eyes narrowed.
While Teplan’s knights were busy playing with Moren’s Crown Prince, Moren itself had sent assassins to end theirs.
He couldn’t fathom how the world had become so topsy-turvy.
After dismissing the officer and turning back toward the door, Ricalt gripped the handle and paused—clenching his lips firmly, then releasing them. His facial muscles softened noticeably.
If he entered looking troubled, Adlen would certainly begin to tremble.
That cowardly disposition of his.
Once fear took root, it barely loosened its grip, so the best course was to prevent fear from taking hold in the first place.
When Adlen grew frightened and trembled, the child would grow anxious and fussy as well. It was all for the sake of everyone’s peace that he obliged.
Ricalt entered the room wearing the same composed expression he’d worn when he left.
Adlen was still gazing down at the sleeping child. His downcast eyes were so heavy with warmth and affection they seemed ready to weep honey.
With eyes already the color of bright amber gold, it was as if honeyed droplets pooled within them.
“The Crown Prince must have truly enjoyed himself. He’s even smiling in his sleep.”
As Ricalt approached, Adlen turned with a soft smile and whispered in return.
Then he proceeded to say something utterly absurd.
“I think I need to build up my stamina. He seemed so happy, and now I’m worried I’ve been neglecting him all this time because I’m not strong enough.”
“Here we go again?”
“I can’t help it. No matter how much I give, it never feels like enough.”
Ricalt exhaled a cold sigh.
“Save that devotion for your own child someday. Don’t pour it into a hostage whose fate hangs in uncertainty.”
“Since I’m the one raising him now, he’s as much my child as anyone’s.”
Had the boy been ordinary, Ricalt would have had no need to lecture. He would have told Adlen to love him to death if he wished, to do as he pleased.
But the child was the Crown Prince of an enemy nation—and therein lay the problem.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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